British woman in poker grand final

A British woman is to battle it out on a Monte Carlo poker table for 2.2 million pounds

A British woman is due to battle it out on a Monte Carlo poker table to try to win a £2.2 million grand final event.

Card ace Liv Boeree, 25, from Milstead, near Sittingbourne, Kent, won £1.1 million in a prior round earlier this week in San Remo, Italy, to book a place at the final table.

The astrophysics graduate from Manchester University is only the third woman to win a European Poker Tournament EPT event since the tour began in 2004.

Miss Boeree, a television presenter and model, has been playing poker for four years after working on the Channel 5 show Ultimate Poker Showdown, where she learned to play.

Miss Boeree said: "Winning a major event is exactly what I've been working towards.

"I went round to all the EPTs as a host but all I was thinking was, 'I want to play'.

"I have been working very hard on my game but I can't believe I have won. I'm over the moon, absolutely over the moon."

Miss Boeree, who lives with her mother and stepfather, notched up several wins over the last three years amassing about £1.8 million, including the European Ladies Championship, but the million pound win this week is by far the biggest.

She is known on the poker circuit for her "Liv stare" poker face which is claimed to unsettle opponents. Despite her success, Miss Boeree does not even make the top 10 of the lucrative EPT tour, where the leader has amassed more that £2 million in winnings this year.

The Monte Carlo Grand final takes place at the Le Sporting Club in Monaco until April 30.